World Cruise - Day 42 - Feb 23 - At Sea

Good morning, sunrise:

The sunrises at sea are particularly spectacular.  I guess partly because you have a clear view to the horizon, but also because the clouds and weather patterns over the ocean are constantly changing.

We are going through the Tasman Sea today, which the Captain noted last night are typically some of the roughest seas in the world.  Yet it has been relatively calm for us.  Not the glassy smooth that we had several days ago, but only minor swells and waves.

Today at Zumba, we had an interesting time at the beginning of the class.  Collette was not able to get the music to go through the speakers, so she had to run to the back of the room to get the speaker system turned on.  While we was doing that, everyone started to improvise their Zumba moves and pretty soon the whole class was doing a completely improvised Zumba dance that was quite funny.  Just imagine 25 people all doing something completely different to the music vs. the normal coordinated moves.  That’s what happens without our fearless leader, Collette.

Krissie finished her “Van Gogh-style” painting yesterday:

This is the most creative oil painting she has done.  She did this from Fjordland with all of the rivers running down the mountains.  Here is an example photo of what she was seeing that day:

Pretty cool and very imaginative on her part.  I’m off to trivia…

We tied for first again in trivia (16 out of 20) and lost the tiebreaker (again).  The tiebreaker: How tall is the Leaning Tower of Pisa?  We said 130 feet (figuring for 11 stories at 10 feet per story and another 20 feet for the turret on top).  The other two teams said 140 and 150.  The answer was 190.  Other interesting questions: In which European city would you find the headquarters for Greenpeace?  Amsterdam (we put Geneva).  If born on the 30^th of October, what would be your astrological sign?  Scorpio.  What is the chemical symbol for potassium?  K.  Alicant, Golden Boy and Piranto are varieties of which fruit?  Tomato.  What country has the longest coastline?  Canada.  What is Hanson’s disease commonly known as?  Leprosy.  What was the name of John Travolta’s character in Saturday Night Fever?  Tony Manero (we got Tony, but couldn’t come up with the last name).  In which sport do you have an Eskimo roll?  Kayaking.  How many strings on a ukulele?  4.  What does LED stand for?  Light emitting diode.  Trumpeter John Shore invented what in 1711?  Tuning fork (we said mute).  In what sport do you use a niblick?  Golf.  How many teeth does an elephant have?  4 (we said 40, way off).

The weather has kicked up some this afternoon and we’re now experiencing some pretty large swells and whitecaps.  The wind is also pretty high, so they just moved a pool deck event (wooden horse racing) inside to the Pacific Lounge.  However, the ship seems to be handling it quite well, with only the usual sways, staying pretty steady.  Not a storm or anything major, just a change from the very calm seas we had been having previously.

This is the new screensaver on my laptop today:

I love how Microsoft preloaded the rotating screensavers on my laptop.  I bought my laptop (an Acer Aspire S3) at the new Microsoft store at University Village in Seattle near the UW campus.  It is right across the parking lot from the Apple store.  Brandon helped me pick it out.  It’s very small and light.  Only downside is that it doesn’t have a CD/DVD drive, but that’s the tradeoff for a smaller, thinner laptop.  The only time I needed it on the trip is with the owner’s manual for my DSLR, which is on a CD, other than that, I haven’t needed one.  I really like my laptop and have definitely gotten my use out of it on this trip.

Krissie went to the wine tasting this afternoon.  They focused on Australian and New Zealand wines.

Patti, there are Tasmanian Devils in Tasmania, it’s just that they are very difficult to see in the wild, although there is a place that has some in captivity.  We might go to one of the nature preserves tomorrow to hopefully see some?

We lost in trivia this afternoon, very tough questions, we only got 10 out of 20 correct.  What is the name of the ghost ship in Wagner’s 1841 opera?  Flying Dutchman (we put Esmerelda).  In what city was the first skyscraper built in the late 1800s?  Chicago (we put New York City).  In which country would you find the Grand Prix circuit known as Silverstone?  England (we put France).  Bo Diddley was known for playing what instrument?  Guitar (we put harmonica, I should have remembered that one from the “Bo Knows” commercial).  Marmoset is what type of animal?  Monkey (we put weasel).  What color are berries from the rowan tree?  Red (we put green).  Chinese gooseberry is another name for which fruit?  Kiwi.  On which Greek island is the resort Faliraki?  Rhodes (we put Santorini).  To which flower family does garlic belong?  Lilly.  What type of fish can see both infrared and ultraviolet light?  Goldfish (we put shark).  What % of the body’s energy does the brain use, 15, 20, 25 or 30?  20 (we put 30).  What present day country was the original source of chocolate?  Mexico.  Into which sea does the Jordan River drain?  Dead Sea (we put Red Sea, then Dead Sea, then Red Sea, then Dead Sea and finally changed it back to Red Sea, since I was unwilling to stake my reputation on Dead Sea).

The Cruise Choir performed tonight in the Cabaret Lounge.  Here are some pics from the performance along with several people we know:

Pic of the full choir onstage with David at the Piano.

David Crathorne is the resident piano player onboard and the conductor of the Cruise Choir.

Arnold Danoff is in Cruise Critic (Musicman) and one of our trivia partners.

Bill Harrod is also in Cruise Critic (Snooks95) and a trivia partner (he’s the best player on our team).

This was the best photo I could get of Chuck Weinberger (also in Cruise Critic, cbw), who was in the back.

Lorraine Gutowicz, Chuck’s wife and our future tablemate on the next segment (along with Chuck, of course).

Mary Norwood (Cruise Critic midlandtourist) joined us for San Diego to Sydney, I think at least partly to be in the Choir.

Pat Purello (Cruise Critic Cruisetil100).

Shirley, one of our tablemates.

Kay, another one of our tablemates at dinner.

Tomorrow we will be in Burnie.  Our clocks are being set back another hour tonight, so we’re now 5 hours behind Seattle, but one day ahead (so when it’s noon on Thursday in Seattle, it will be 7a Friday on our ship).  We are going to be doing a tour with Terry and Jackie Eckstein.  We will be renting a car.  Terry will probably drive, since it’s driving on the left side of the road and he’s done it before (I haven’t).  We are hoping to see some of Australia’s unique animals, such as kangaroos, wallabys, koalas and possibly even a Tasmanian devil, if we’re lucky.  And maybe a penguin.